William Simpson

About

William Simpson is a Civitas Research Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin in the College of Liberal Arts. His research focuses on metaphysics of science, philosophy of physics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of religion. The information provided indicates his academic affiliation and areas of philosophical inquiry, emphasizing his engagement with foundational questions in science and philosophy.

Research topics

• Philosophy
• Epistemology
• Theology

Selected publications

• Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science

  2017-10-19 · 92 citations

  bookOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The last two decades have seen two significant trends emerging within the philosophy of science: the rapid development and focus on the philosophy of the specialised sciences, and a resurgence of Aristotelian metaphysics, much of which is concerned with the possibility of emergence, as well as the ontological status and indispensability of dispositions and powers in science. Despite these recent trends, few Aristotelian metaphysicians have engaged directly with the philosophy of the specialised…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Hylomorphism

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2023-05-03 · 51 citations

  bookOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This Element introduces Aristotle's doctrine of hylomorphism, which provides an account of substances in terms of their 'matter' and 'form', adapting and applying it to the interface between physics and biology. It begins by indicating some reasons for the current revival of hylomorphism and by suggesting a way of classifying the confusing array of hylomorphisms that have arisen. It argues that, in order for composite entities to have irreducible causal powers which make a difference to how natu…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature

  Routledge eBooks · 2021 · 18 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Small Worlds with Cosmic Powers

  The Journal of Philosophy · 2023-01-01 · 10 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The wave function of quantum mechanics can be understood in terms of the dispositional role it plays in the dynamics of a distribution of matter in three-dimensional space (or four-dimensional spacetime). There is more than one way, however, of specifying its dispositional role. This paper considers Suárez’s theory of ‘Bohmian dispositionalism’, in which the particles are endowed with their own ‘Bohmian dispositions’, and Simpson’s theory of ‘Cosmic Hylomorphism’, in which the particle configura…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Whose Hylomorphism? Which Theory of Prime Matter?

  Ancient Philosophy Today · 2024-04-01 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Medieval interpretations of hylomorphism, in which substances are conceived as metaphysical composites of prime matter and substantial form, are receiving attention in contemporary philosophy. It has even been suggested that a recovery of Aquinas's conception of prime matter as a ‘pure potentiality’, lacking any actuality apart from substantial form, may be expedient in hylomorphic interpretations of quantum mechanics. In this paper, we consider a recent hylomorphic interpretation of non-relativ…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Stanley H. Schuman

  10 shared

• Ulf Leonhardt

  Weizmann Institute of Science

  6 shared

• S. A. R. Horsley

  6 shared

• John Burton

  New York Hospital Queens

  4 shared

• Miles E. Vance

  Corning (United States)

  4 shared

• Donald D. Tresch

  Medical College of Wisconsin

  4 shared

• Walter F. Love

  Corning (United States)

  4 shared

• Robert C. Koons

  The University of Texas at Austin

  4 shared

Similar researchers at University of Texas at Austin

• Sahotra Sarkarh-51
• Michael Tyeh-44
• Galen Strawsonh-33